SHARP: first published study
The harmonization of national severe asthma registries towards OMOP carried out within the SHARP project (more details here) has started to bring results. A first, proof-of-principle study using the “SHARP federated analysis platform” (SHARP FAP) has been conducted including data from 10 national registries, with the aim of characterising patients receiving mepolizumab, assess its effectiveness on annual exacerbations and maintenance oral glucocorticoid (OCS) use, and evaluate treatment patterns.
5871 patients who initiated mepolizumab between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2021 were examined. Changes of a 12-month (range 11–18 months) period in frequent (two or more) exacerbations as well as maintenance OCS use and dose were analysed. In 912 patients who fulfilled selection criteria, mepolizumab appeared to significantly influence the parameters of interest, reducing frequent exacerbations, maintenance OCS use and dose.
This demonstrates the real-world effectiveness of mepolizumab on asthma exacerbations and maintenance OCS use in severe asthma patients across Europe, consistent with previous evidence.
This paves the way for future pan-European real-world severe asthma studies using patient-level data in a privacy-proof manner.
A paper describing this study has been published on ERJ Open Research and can be found at the following link:
Further studies are beeing carried out and will be published on specialized journals.
